Off camera lighting for fun dramatic photos!

I appreciate so much when my favorite photographers that I follow are so willingly and open to write about their mistakes and what they can do different. It boosts my confidence that even the most successful photographers are not perfect. Aside from looking at pretty photos on their blogs, one of my FAVORITE things to do is to pick their brain, or read behind the scene moments and how it is they do what they do. Yesterday, I went to Barnes & Noble after work with my husband and found a really good and educational book written by Bob & Dawn Davis. They really know their stuff and even though some of the things explained were basic, it was still so good to read it from another photographers perspective. One of the things that I am working on is to hone my photographic style for reception photos and getting that flash off the camera. I am seriously IN LOVE with off camera lighting and I have been able to experiment with this during my last 2 weddings, and the results have been HUGE!! Totally in a good way! I love it, and this very book that I was reading focuses alot on lighting. Check it out at your local Barnes & Noble or at Amazon. Definilty a good read.

Here are a few photos where I was able to use only off camera flash AND on-camera flash mixed with off camera. Both have different results that I like.

Wedding reception at Tanner Hall, Winter Garden. I used off camera flash with a softbox as you can see it triggered to give the background some light and I also use on-camera flash bounced to light up the couple.

For a different affect, my assistant for the day held a bare flash above the guests dancing. I used NO on-camera flash. This is a spotlight affect and I think it makes the fun dancing photos so much more dramatic!! This can also be done holding a flash with a softbox like you will see in the next photos.

Wedding reception at Casa Monica Hotel. Have your assistant hold the off camera flash behind the couple to create a dramatic rim-light affect. You may choose to include an on-camera flash to light the couple, or just have the off-camera flash as your only source. I like alternating both ways :)

Here's another spot-light affect with off camera flash only.

These may not be the BEST pictures, but as you can tell, I had so much fun experimenting and I can't wait to continue to use these techniques for my future weddings!! :)

W2D2

Week 2, day 2

That's where I am up to in my schedule to reach my goal of running a 5k. It gets harder week per week. I already feel improvement in how I feel and look. I normaly loose inches first than pounds so it's nice to have alittle more room in my clothes :) My shins are hurting bad but that's probably because I need to get better running shoes. I can't wait to see how I do in the 8th week of my schedule, that's when I'm suppose to run 2.5 miles without stopping!

In other news, I just ordered a single CD case from whcc and I am so in love with them! I've ordered several actually but never blogged them. It's the perfect thing to store your clients digital files, so much better than those cheap jewel cases, gah!! I will post a few photos as soon as I get it. I'll also be blogging a few portrait sessions within the next few days!

Happy Tuesday!

Ana & Fritz {Day After} - St. Augustine wedding photographer

There's something about "Day After" shoots that I just LOVE!

For those who are not familiar with the term, it's a type of shoot where you get to put your wedding attire back on, and rock it out in front of the camera for at least 2 hours! It's a perfect way to get more intimate wedding photos that you possibly couldn't have had on your wedding day. Weddings can be so hectic, and sometimes, your artistic intimate photos are usually cut short because of time constraints. Day After sesisons are so much more relaxing and so much fun!!

I recently had the pleasure of photographing Ana & Fritz in beautiful St. Augustine, FL. They were total troopers bearing with me because I made them walk alot from one place to the other. St Augustine is full of fun photo spots and they were totally up for it. In turn, we got a whole bunch of awesome photos. Here are a few of my favs:

The Couch-to-5K running plan

So, it is decided.

After finding tons of inspiration from watching Jillian Michaels kick butt on the biggest looser, plus the scale telling me that I'm at the heaviest I've ever been in my life, I've decided it was time to get up and do something about this.

For the past couple of months, I've felt this heavy burden on my body. I've literally felt that I've been suffocating, and I didn't feel free anymore like I use to. It's amazing that how you feel physically can really impact almost every aspect of your life. I miss having so much energy, motivation and the feeling that I can conquer anything! I want those things back in my life.

The past few days, I've really been watching what I eat and how much I eat. My body has responded to this change and it feels much more alert and less tired. Next, was to get outside and start exercising. My mind is already so focused in really trying to eat healthier, so my next thing was to include workouts.

A huge goal I've set for myself, and I've never ever done this before, is run a 5k without stopping. I know I have a long way to go but I am so determined than ever before to do this. I think to loose weight is an awesome goal, but I want to do more than just that. I want to be healthy, and I want to be a runner. Not a professional runner. Just someone who can make running and exercising part of their lifestyle. I feel like if I can accomplish this 5k, that I can really do this. I can push myself even further.

So I went to the internet and looked up a few articles on how to train for a 5k. Here is a really good schedule that I found and that I think it will be perfect for me. I have to keep reminding myself to not get too excited because I tend to want to start off fast and forget that it takes time, and lots of patience, to go from a couch potatoe to a runner.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SCHEDULE

If anyone reads this blog post and is interested in running a 5k also, I would love to be able to keep tabs on you. I think it will help one another to know that there are people out there striving for the same goal and it's nice to be able to have a companion :)

I'll keep my blog updated of my progress, and maybe, some before and after pics!

Ana & Fritz sneak peek

Here's a little sneak peek for Ana and Fritz. One of my FAVORITE images from their session! So many of them that I can't wait to share! More to come soon :)

Photobiz website hosting & pricing

One thing I love about Photobiz is that they give you the ability to completely change the look of your website at no extra cost! They have so many websites to choose from and once you pick the one that's right for you, you can then go ahead and customize it! Add as many galleries as you'd like, and play around with the colors and fonts. I've recently been thinking about the layout of my website and although I do still love super big, pretty images, I have noticed that it might be easier to the viewer to have them in a more normal, medium format. Some of them get cut off and I don't want the viewers to think that is how the original photo looks like.

So here it is, my new layout for my website. I love the gray, teal and khaki look to it. I think it looks a little cleaner in my opinion and you can access the Menu information fairly easier. Check it out!
http://www.jackiebealephotography.com/

I've also updated my wedding packages for 2010-2011. I offer reasonable prices for most brides budget and I love to be able to customize packages that really reflect what a bride needs. I know from my experience, I had a tough time choosing a photographer with the right packages (thankfully I found the perfect one!). It's good to have an idea of what you want. For me, I knew I wanted a wedding album, as this is the most important thing you'll ever have from your wedding. It's the one thing that can be passed to your future generations and a good quality album really stands the test of time. You can have it beautifully displayed in your home and whenever you have friends or guests over, be certain that they will want to look at it everytime! :)

Vero Beach Hotel and Spa wedding - Kristy & Mattew

A few days ago, I had the pleasure of assisting Jennifer Werneth on this beautiful wedding right on Vero Beach. The wedding took place at The Vero Beach Hotel & Spa. It was such a gorgeous day and the beach surprisingly was not crowded. This gave us plenty of time to take alot of nice photos. Matt, Crissy, families, and their entire fun wedding party really rocked it out!